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Fox renews 'Breaking In' for a second season

August 25, 2011 | 1:15
pm

The TV world just couldn’t let yet another Christian Slater show slip away: Fox has renewed “Breaking In” for a 13-episode second season, the network announced Thursday.

It’s good news for the beleaguered show. The pilot had a tough time even making it to air, with Fox initially passing on the series about an oddball crew of geniuses and high-tech experts who sell their protection services. Created by Adam Goldberg and Seth Gordon, when the series finally launched in April, it drew decent numbers after its lead-in, “American Idol.” But ratings eventually cooled, and Fox decided not to renew the comedy for a second season -- and then changed its mind.

“'Breaking In' is a creatively vibrant and wildly adventurous comedy,” said Kevin Reilly, president of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting, in a statement. “We are looking forward to bringing it back for a second season and continuing our relationship with this incredibly talented cast and these fantastic creators –- Adam Goldberg and Seth Gordon. We can’t wait to see where they take these characters next year.”

When Reilly addressed reporters at the Television Critics Assn. tour a few weeks ago, the fate of the show was still up in the air.

"We had a very passionate group of producers and actors who wanted to try to keep it going," he said. "It still has a shot. They’ve agreed to extend an option, so we’ve kept it alive.... Stranger things have happened."

It happened today, and it’s welcome news for Slater’s TV scorecard. His other ventures, 2008's "My Own Worst Enemy" and the 2009 Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama "The Forgotten” on ABC, were nixed.

In an interview with The Times earlier this year, Slater was optimistic that “Breaking In” would work.

"You have to try on a few things in order to find the right fit," he said. "It's a process. And I feel like this certainly is about as close a fit for me as it could possibly be. This character, this guy, this environment, what these guys are doing ... I love it. I love it."